Prasidh Krishna shines as India seal series against West Indies

SCORECARD

India found themselves in trouble after being put into bat by West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran. Rohit Sharma departed in the third over of the innings with just nine runs on the board as he was dismissed caught behind off Kemar Roach's bowling.

With KL Rahul returning to the side in place of Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant was promoted to bat at the top of the order but didn't make a significant impact as he went back to the pavilion in the 12th over after a brief 30-run stand with Virat Kohli. The former India skipper couldn't stay in the middle for long either, as Odean Smith got rid of him in the same over.

India were staring down the barrel with the scoreboard reading 43/3 but KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav held their nerves and steadied the ship. The duo kept batting sensibly with a risk-free approach. Rahul got a life early in his innings when Shai Hope squandered an opportunity behind the stumps off Roach's bowling, but he looked determined to make full use of it as he kept batting on.

The 29-year-old was approaching his fifty towards the 30th over mark but his innings was cut short on 49 when a miscommunication between him and Yadav resulted in his run out. Deepak Hooda walked in to bat next and Yadav put on another useful stand of 43 runs with him. But he had to depart for a well-made 63 just when both of them were looking to accelerate as he miscued a sweep off Fabian Allen's bowling.

India kept losing wickets at regular intervals after that and could manage a total of only 237/9 in their quota of overs.

The hosts needed early breakthroughs to defend this total but Shai Hope and Brandon King got West Indies off to a good start putting on 32 runs in seven overs. But Prasidh Krishna rose to the occasion and gave India breakthroughs in back-to-back overs as he dismissed both King and Darren Bravo caught behind.

Hope tried to hang around but he succumbed to the pressure once Yuzvendra Chahal was introduced into the attack. West Indies were reduced to 52/3 in the 17th over and needed a big knock from their skipper Pooran. But Krishna stepped up to the occasion once again as Pooran edged out to Rohit Sharma in the slips a couple of overs later.

West Indies never recovered from that situation again as the Indian bowlers kept piling the pressure on them. Akeal Hosein and Odean Smith tried their best to keep the visitors in the chase with knocks of 34 and 24 down the order respectively, but their contributions didn't turn out to be enough as West Indies still fell short by 44 runs in the end.

India sealed the series with this win and now they will be aiming for a whitewash when they take on the visitors in the third and final ODI on 11 February.